Going Up the River of Shame: The Struggle for Education Justice In South Carolina

On a steamy August day in 1993, the Pee Dee Education Center held its monthly meeting in the long, narrow board room on the second floor of the building located on Dargan Street in downtown Florence. On that day, eighteen of the nineteen member superintendents voted to sue the state of South Carolina. As they took this action, the superintendents were not aware they were becoming a part of a state-by-state national movement, a movement that would challenge state governments to provide a higher level of education for each state's poorest students. The South Carolinians only knew they were struggling to offer students in their districts the kind of education the students needed to break out of the cycle of poverty in which most of them were trapped. This book is the story of how the Pee Dee superintendents brought the suit against the state, risking their reputations and livelihoods to stand up for poor children in their districts. It's also the story of a state's unwillingness to address the educational needs of its children. Part I of the book traces the development of school finance suits in the country with special emphasis on New Jersey, Kentucky, and Ohio. Part II describes the South Carolina trial, including testimonies of the eight plaintiff superintendents and other key witnesses. Part III includes the court decision in the South Carolina case, a comparison of that decision with those in New Jersey, Kentucky, and Ohio and a more detailed comparison of the South Carolina case with its neighbor, North Carolina.